Puigverd Assessors Business Consulting Castellar del Vallès Barcelona

Fired for publishing offensive comments against your company on Facebook

A judge declares appropriate the dismissal of an employee for posting offensive and humiliating comments against his company on Facebook, with devastating consequences for his reputation.

03/07/2018

The worker, identifying himself as an employee of the company, publishes on Facebook images that the social network itself eliminates as inappropriate and understand that they are contrary to the dignity of the people. As a result of these publications, a group of users publishes comments requesting that it not be purchased at the center where this worker was providing services. When considering that this conduct, dissemination on facebook of publications and images contrary to the dignity of the people, offensive, defamatory and humiliating, has led to a movement of rejection in social networks against the company and has seriously affected his reputation, proceeds to disciplinary dismissal of the worker since he considers that this behavior is a very serious and culpable breach of his work obligations. The worker, dissatisfied, files a request for dismissal.
The company has a policy of using social networks in which good practices are established and its employees are urged to ensure that in their virtual activity the dignity of the person and of the workers is respected.

The question to be debated is to assess the behavior of the worker has the sufficient entity to justify a disciplinary dismissal. The freedom of expression should be weighed with respect for dignity to deduce whether the company has been harmed.

In the case prosecuted, the dismissal letter accurately states the facts and alludes to the internal regulations according to which workers must act without offenses or attacks against the dignity of people when they identify themselves as employees of the company. It is understood that these offensive or degrading comments are not protected by the right to freedom of expression, for which they are punishable.

Likewise, for the consideration of a serious and culpable breach it is irrelevant that the existence of a personal profit is credited or not to the plaintiff, nor have caused damages to the company, since it is enough to do so the breach of the duties of fidelity and loyalty implicit in all employment relationship It is also not necessary that it be repeated behavior or repeated acts
In addition, the doctrine of the TS establishes the possibility that a company adopts disciplinary measures even though the worker is neither in time nor in place of work . This means that outside the working day, there is no absolute freedom to perform actions that are detrimental to the company, because all of them are in some way linked to the employment relationship as they directly or indirectly result in a loss to the company.


In short, what has occurred is a breach of contract consisting of disobedience with a clear and notorious detriment to the company, as well as the loss of confidence in the person of the worker. Therefore, the dismissal is declared and the claim is dismissed

Source: https://www.elderecho.com/actualidad/red-social-facebook-comentar-ofensivo-empresa-despido-procedente_0_1244250017.html